This is my first time entering a cupcake competition, and I think I had enough fun that I will do it again. The theme was "banana" (I'm sure my father would cringe if he knew - he's afraid of bananas). When I said this to my boyfriend, he said immediately, "Banana split cupcakes!" and I decided, yeah, that's a good idea. I was thinking of Banana's Foster cupcakes, but without the ability to showily light the cupcake on fire, I decided that Banana Split cupcakes would be a better idea.I looked up a few recipes and no one seems to have decided to do them the way I thought to do them - Neopolitan style. So here's how it went.
Recipe (MAKES 12) -
CUPCAKES:
1/2 C unsalted room-temperature butter
2/3 C white sugar
3 eggs (room temperature)
1 tsp + 1/2 tbsp vanilla (separated)
1.5 C all-purpose flour
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 C + 1 tbsp whole milk (separated)
2 tbsp cocoa powder
2.5 tbsp strawberry gelatin
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PREHEAT 350F. Line 12 muffin tins with liners.
CREAM butter and sugar using an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating until combined. Add 1 tsp vanilla, mix until combined.
SIFT together flour, salt, and baking powder.
ADD dry mix alternatingly with 1/4 C milk to wet ingredients.
SEPARATE batter into 3 1-cup bowls.
Sift the cocoa powder into Bowl 1, mix well. Add 1 tbsp of milk as well, mix.
In Bowl 2, add 2.5 tbsp strawberry gelatin powder. Mix well.
In Bowl 3, add 1/2 tbsp vanilla. Mix well.
Fill 3 ziploc bags with batters - 1 for each flavor. Cut off the edge. Use the ziploc bag to fill the cupcake liners with batter - start with chocolate, then vanilla, then strawberry. After each batter is piped, use the back of a spoon to carefully spread the batter so it covers the whole layer and touches all the way to the edges of the liner. Cupcake liners will be filled 2/3 of the way full total. Keep this in mind as you fill them, as you are filling them 1/3 of 2/3 total for each layer.
BAKE 18 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. They should NOT be browned. Remove from muffin tins after 5 minutes, cool completely before frosting.
BANANA BUTTERCREAM FROSTING:1/2 C high quality unsalted butter, room temperature
1 banana processed in a food processor
1 C powdered sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp lemon juice
Cream butter until light and fluffy. Sift together powdered sugar and salt, add to butter, mix well. Add banana and juice, mix well.
WHIPPED CREAM:1C heavy whipping cream
1/4 C sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Whip cream until soft peaks form. Add sugar and vanilla. Beat some more, be careful not to overbeat.
ADDITIONAL INGREDIENTS:
Maraschino Cherries, with stems
Sprinkles, nonpareils, nuts, chocolate syrup or other things you want to decorate the cupcake with.
ASSEMBLY:
Spread 1/2 tbsp - 1tbsp of banana frosting on top of cupcake. Pipe whipped cream on top of frosting.
Rinse and pat dry 12 maraschino cherries. Let them sit on a paper towel while you decorate your cupcake.
Sprinkle with decorations, if you like, or chocolate syrup or strawberry syrup or whatever... remember, it's a banana split - add whatever you think makes it YOUR banana split. (These might be fun for a banana split party where ice cream is just too cold...)
Put a cherry on top. Serve immediately. Whipped cream will not last out of the refrigerator for more than a few hours, and only in the refrigerator for about a day or two.
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